Before Their Time
by GeezeLouise
Summary: Meggie is at a loss when her best friend, Farid, leaves. Needing to regain a connection to Inkheart, she goes into the book. But it's her own version. A time before Capricorn. She's not prepared for what's in store. Follows on from the movie not the books
1. Chapter 1

**The Weakest Link – Goodbye.**

"Before you go, would you answer one question?"

"Of course."

The tear stains felt forever etched into my cheeks as I looked at him for what might be the last time. I was losing a part of me. Not only was he my best friend but he was my only real link back to Inkheart. He contained so many memories that led me back to Capricorn and the Shadow and every other beautifully portrayed characters. I'm not saying being locked in Capricorn's Village is my idea of fun, but it's not something I wanted to ever lose or forget about. And even though he wasn't part of Inkheart, he was there through it all and being able to remember that extraordinary experience through him is something I cherish, even after all these years. With him leaving, I knew I would miss everything. Everything about him, his tales of the thieves and his life before me and our time in the Village. Everything between Capricorn and now. It was all going to go and I was helpless.

"Were you ever happy living here with us for the past few years?" I knew I was being stupid. Of course I knew the answer, but this was all so sudden, anyone would have these doubts. His face just confirmed what I already knew. He looked shocked, and then hurt.

"Meggie..." He pulled me towards him, wrapping his arms around my waist while I locked mine around his neck. Fresh tears came, dampening the neckline of his hoody. "Don't ever doubt that, Megs. Don't you ever! You hear me?" I nodded against his shoulder. "Listen, have you ever heard me tell you a story of the same place twice?" He let me go so he could look into my eyes. "Well have you?" I shook my head. He gave me a small, sad smile while bringing his hand against to my face and wiping the tears away with the pad of his thumb. "I have told you countless tales of my life before you. How I stole to live and the company I kept. I'm not proud of it but I did what I had to do to survive. I, among others, became known as an "urchin of the desert". From a young age I began stealing food from markets and money from local pockets. Unbeknown to me, I decide to steal from one of the Forty Thieves. The terror in his eyes when he caught me made think I would be killed." He paused to comfort me some more. "I'll never know what changed his mind but that's when I promptly became one of them. Being a thief, we could never stay in one place too long. This is one of the only few things I liked about being in their group."

"What else did you like? I can't imagine any sane person liking any part of being in their company." I scowled at him, wondering if it hadn't been for the Thieves, maybe he wouldn't be leaving. If they hadn't showed him a life of freedom and illegal activities, maybe he would never know what he was missing and wouldn't be compelled to try and find it on his own again.

"For once in my life, Meggie, I had a home. I had a place to sleep safely at night. I had a family. People I could turn to and rely on. It wasn't a stable home because of moving around but I didn't mind. I've always been a free spirit, dreaming of the world and new lands which I could find. I got to do that with them. They weren't the best company to keep but they did become my family. Meggie, I would have loved to of had different circumstances and not of had to result in stealing all the time but being with them fulfilled my dream in a small way. And now, being in your world, being in a completely new land, all I want to do is conquer it. I have loved every second of being with you and your family, but it's time for me to go. Thank you for reading me into your world Meggie. You saved my life and I will be eternally grateful. But I don't belong here. You live your life to the fullest, Meggie. Stop living off of my stories and write your own." He hugged me tightly again, kissing my forehead. Giving my hand a quick squeeze he released me. Scooping up his bag on the way, he left.

"Goodbye, Farid." I whispered.

That night I cried myself to sleep. I felt guilty, though, because I don't know how many of those tears were actually for him. They should have all been for him and not shared with Inkheart. This need inside of me to still be close to Inkheart in any way was strange. I couldn't for the life of me fathom why I felt like this. What Inkheart gave me was fear and devastation. It took away my mother but also brought her back to me and Mo. So why did I need it to still be a part of my life? And why was I racking my brain to think of a way it could be?


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inkheart. All rights belong to C. Funke. No copyright infringement intended. **

**A Love-Hate Relationship**

Throughout the following week, I repeatedly kept coming up with nothing to help keep Inkheart alive for me. The memories somehow just weren't enough. I couldn't talk about Inkheart to my folks because they most definitely would not appreciate that. Ever since everyone returned to the pages where they belonged, Mo and Resa lived as though none of it ever happened. They never mentioned it and instructed me to do the same. Of course, I didn't though. I occasionally talked to Farid about it and he didn't seem bothered at all. He missed Dustfinger at the beginning but he eventually stopped. I presumed that he just accepted that there was no way Dustfinger would be coming back and moved on. He still took great care of Gwin though. Leaving her behind made me wonder if Farid had left her deliberately so he could cut all ties. It stung me to think that so I made myself believe he just forgot about her in his haste. That would have hurt Gwin if it were possible.

"Enough!" I exclaimed, interrupting my internal monologue. I threw myself onto my bed face first with a heavy sigh. This was getting ridiculous. It had been seven days and all my thoughts were of a stupid, horrid book. I knew it was better if the matter was just left alone but I just couldn't still my over active mind. There's got to be some way for Inkheart to be brought back to me without harming anyone.  
I rolled onto my side, staring at the horned ferret sleeping on my desk.

"Gwin." She lazily opened her eyes, looking at me in what could only be perceived as an annoyed expression. "I know you can't speak or anything, but maybe you could give me a sign or a hint as to what I could do." She slithered into a stretch, yawning while rolling from side to side. She shook all of her body muscles simultaneously then jumped down from my desk to the chair and onto the floor. Looking back up to me with the same annoyed expression, she bounded out of my bedroom. "Thanks." I said after her. That was the best idea I had had all week and it was over in ten short, sweet seconds.  
I rolled over and grabbed my radio remote, switching it on for Lady Antebellum to quickly fill the air.

"_It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now."_

The lyrics fitted me perfectly. With it being not at all what I needed to distract myself, silence resounded throughout my room once again. I got up and went over to my window. I could see out over my back garden and slightly out of our road. Four years ago we moved to rainy England. Mo and Resa wanted a fresh start and what better way to not only forget but protect yourself than a country surrounded by water with bi-polar weather conditions. Why couldn't we have gone to somewhere like Australia? Seemed like a far better choice to me.  
After finalising my mental debate on whether the weather was good enough to be out in, I grabbed my coat from my wardrobe, chucked my phone and keys into my bag and headed down stairs. I made my way to the kitchen and made myself a glass of water which was quickly guzzled down my throat. Grabbing my boots along the way, I went back to the front door and slipped on my shoes, coat and hooked my bag over my right shoulder. I hoisted my hair up and tied it, leaving it hanging just below my shoulders. After swiftly picking up an umbrella, I reached for the door handle.

"Shit!" A pain surged between my ankle and lower calf. "Ouch! Geeze!" I looked down to see that where my ankle was exposed between my shoes and jeans were four neat, fresh puncture wounds. Blood had already started trickling out into my boot. Looking back up quickly, I could see the culprit bounding up the stairs. "Gwin!" Throwing my bag onto the floor, I chased after her. At the top of the stairs she turned left and headed for my parent's room. I didn't understand what had gotten into her. Apart from Capricorn's henchmen, she'd never bitten anyone. I reached the top and followed her into the bedroom. Pushing the door open further, I saw Gwin disappearing underneath the bed. "Of all things I've known you to be, Gwin, a coward was certainly not one of them." I dropped to my knees and peered underneath the bed. Her furry face and two black eyes were staring straight at me. I reached my hand underneath to grab hold of her but she darted beneath a flimsy, tattered rug. I saw her outline raised through the material until she disappeared altogether. I blinked several times, just staring at where the miniature beast had just been. I crawled towards the rug, unfortunately hitting my head on the way when I tried to give myself an extra boost. I nudged the rug out the way to find a small, Gwin sized hole in the floor boards. "Well that's just great Gwin. Stay there for all I care. Stupid ferret." Knowing that she'd probably just keep me up that night scratching under the floorboards of my room, I tried to think of a practical way of getting her back out. I was also worried that Gwin might not be the only pest under our floor boards. Summoning up courage, I shut my eyes tight and plunged my hand down the hole. Feeling around I felt basically nothing. Cobwebs and dust but nothing cringe worthy. Most importantly though, there was no ferret. I opened my eyes and looked around if there were any other exit holes which she could have got out of. That's when I saw that a couple of floorboards looked fairly loose. If I pulled them up I could see more. Crawling over to them, I grasped as much of the wood as possible and pulled up. It came up easily until the short wooden slat was completely unhinged from the floor. Placing it on the rug, I leaned down and peered all around the revealed space. About two feet away was Gwin, curled up on a dark object. I proceeded to pull up the other floorboard to get closer. I laid it down on top of the other one and leaned down to see if she moved. Still curled up, I slowly pushed my arm underneath the floor and tried to navigate blindly. My hand came to rest on the dark object. Praying that she hadn't run away again, I pulled them both towards me. Before I managed to get her out, Gwin bounded up my outstretched arm and hopped down onto the floor beside me. I grabbed her quickly to stop her from finding other places to hide from me. Gwin looked straight at me and then back to the hole in the floor. "Yes, that's right. How the hell am I going to explain this? Hey, mum and dad, I felt like having some fun so I ripped up your floor, just for the hell of it. Hope that's ok. Maybe next time I'll burn the curtains or something. Yeah, that'll go down a treat. Oh and P.S. I have one sided conversations with ferrets." Still looking at the floor, I remembered that the object was still under there. Curiosity got the better of me and my hand reached into the hole once again and pulled it out. It was a black bin bag. I didn't think I even wanted to know what the object was inside it. It could have been any sort of animal corpse. But then again, it didn't reek or smell of anything at all. Curiosity striking me twice, I slowly opened the sack, only to be greeted with eight, large golden letters that I thought I would never see again: _Inkheart. _

I was well and truly dumbstruck. I thought Mo had disposed of this when Dustfinger went back. Gwin wriggled about in my hand indicating that she'd had enough of motionlessly hanging in mid-air. I dropped her back onto the ground before sprinting out of the room. I placed the floorboards back into their rightful holes as best I could and smoothed the rug out against them. With the bag in my hand, I crawled out from under the bed, stood up and brushed all the dust off of my coat. I walked back to my room and threw my coat off, pushed my shoes off and kicked them across the floor and dumped the sack onto my bed. My mind was blank and numb from shock. I just stood there staring at the bag from my doorway not knowing what to believe. Was the book real? I strode over to my bed and pulled the book out of the bag, letting it fall onto the quilt. Stepping back again, I'd ascertained that I wasn't going mad. A stinging sensation in my leg disrupted my thoughts. The bite didn't look too deep but it was still bleeding. I walked to the bathroom and grabbed a small bandage and gauze from the medicine cabinet. I cleaned the blood off that had dried and wrapped my leg up. And then I froze in place. What did still having to book mean? Why did Mo lie about the book? I took a couple of deep breaths then started back towards my room.

"Meggie?"

Oh, crap. I hadn't even heard him come in. I rushed the remaining distance to my room, thrust the book back into the black sack and hid them in the back of my wardrobe, behind the clutter that hadn't been sorted through in forever. I closed the doors of my cupboard and raced downstairs, wincing as I went thanks to my ferret love-bite. I came to an abrupt stop when I reached the kitchen.

"Hey. How was work?" Mo looked at me with an exasperated expression. "Not well then."

"No. I found out that this customer, who's been begging me for months to mend a book of his, hadn't organised his books collection at all. And he had over four hundred in his basement and around his house. They were all in poor condition but he only asked me to mend one book in particular which I had to find first. It was ridiculous."

"I guess you just have to grin and bear it sometimes." I chuckled anxiously, most likely making me appear guilty of something which is what I was trying to avoid.

"That's what I always do." He smiled at me and then placed his arm around my shoulder, pulling me in for a quick squeeze and kissed my temple. When he looked back at me, his expression faltered. "You ok, Megs?" Oh crap, he noticed.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I stated.

_Liar. _I thought, and not just about me. He didn't look convinced but he decided to let it go.

"Mum's going to be home late, so I thought take-out for dinner?" He plastered this big cheesy grin on his face along with two thumbs up in the air. Silly, little things like that always embarrassed me but I loved him for it as it was simply him being him.

I agreed to the take-out and then headed back upstairs. I took some painkillers for my leg and then rested on my bed. Eventually I felt the side-effects of the tablets kicking in and eventually I stretched out on my side and closed my eyes.

"_Meggie!" I've missed that voice. _

"_Farid, where did you go?" I asked with concern. _

"_Meggie, have you written me a story?"  
_

_"Err, no I haven't. Where did you go?"_

"I told you to write your own stories, Meggie." He laughed, pulling at my arm, dragging me behind him as he ran through a deserted town. I could imagine this town alive with people and markets. I reckoned this could be a colourful town despite the white and sandy coloured, ancient buildings.

_Farid stopped in front of me sharply and whirled around to face me with the most serious expression I've ever seen grace is features. _

"_What are you waiting for? Write your own stories."_

I woke up abruptly and sat up, sharp. Farid's words were dancing around my head. They had been the same words he had said when he left. Then, as quick as a light bulb being turned on, I knew what I had to do. Well, I had to at least try.

**(A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Updates should be regular xD Have a great day on me! ). **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Apologies for the gigantic delay. Hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inkheart. All rights belong to C. Funke. No copyright infringement intended. **

**Meggie's Inkheart**

It was literally a waiting game for me. Six weeks ago the plan had come together perfectly in my head. After seeing Inkheart again I knew how to put an end to this unexplainable ache inside me. Ever since then, I'd been waiting for the right time to put the final stages of my plan into action. This I knew I had accomplished a week later. Mo had come home with news of a book fanatic over in Germany who wished to open up a large bookstore. Mo's previous visit to Germany had proved beneficial as his previous client was so impressed, he spread Mo's name around his peers and colleagues. Most of his books needed repairing and he had promised Mo with a hefty paycheque.

"_The thing is, Meg, it's going to take a few weeks," he had said, voicing his concerns as soon as I learnt of the opportunity, "and it coincides with your Mum's business trip up north. I don't want you to be alone for that long. And with Farid..." Mo didn't care to finish his sentence, obviously not wanting to upset me. "I just don't think this will be fair on you"._

Perfect!_ I had thought. This was as good as I was going to get. My plan had two parts: writing the story and pulling it off. And for pulling it off, I could have not done it better. "Mo," I started, "You'll only be gone for a few weeks. Mum's gone for only two and half. I can take care of myself. Heck, I used to take care of both of us once upon a time," I saw sadness and anger flash across his face, probably caused by memories of Capricorn and the loss of Resa, so I moved swiftly on, "I'll be fine on my own. I think a couple of weeks on my own will probably do me a lot of good. College is over, I've got no plans...so some space can help me establish what I want to do. I'll be fine, Mo." I reassured him again. Doubt was evident in his expression. He sighed, indicating I had won this debate. He clearly had no worthy opposing argument. _

"_Well...Ok. But as long as you're sure?" I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek._

"_Yes, Mo. I'll be perfectly fine." Then, with a smile that was dying to break into a bigger one than necessary, I left the kitchen and headed up stairs to my room. My smile turned into the biggest grin and I even did a little victory dance and a delighted squeal burst out too. I collapsed onto my bed and glanced over at my wardrobe. This was going to be easier than I thought. _

The weeks leading up to their departure seemed to drag on. But that's what anticipation and waiting does to you. I could tell Mo was still unsure on the idea but he never voiced further concerns. Mum was fully aware of how fine I would be and how capable I was. I could only think that her confidence was what was stopping Mo in changing his mind.

The first part of my plan was complete. I re-read my story over and over again, scrutinizing every word to ensure my plan went off without a hitch. After finally deciding it was good enough, I felt a sense of pride over this work that I had written these words and that I was going to bring it to life. But of course, not everything about my story was mine.

...

There was three days left until I was completely alone. I tried to keep myself occupied so time didn't seem to stand still so much. I cleaned, shopped, walked, read, cooked and helped Mo and Resa pack. Whenever asked what brought on this helpfulness, I simply said "Why not?" along with a butter-wouldn't-melt smile. It's not like I never helped, but I guess it did seem over-the-top to them. At one point, Mum jokingly put her hand to my forehead and said "You sure you feeling ok, Meggie?" followed by a hug and a peck in my hair.

Mum planned to drive Mo to the airport before continuing north. I helped them load the car up with everything they needed and closed the boot.

"Come here." She said before pulling me into her arms. "I'll be back before you know it. But I know you'll be fine, won't you." It was a statement, not a question. She knew how well I could take care of not only myself but others too. I nodded into her shoulder and squeezed her tightly.

"I'll miss you."

"We'll miss you too. But we'll keep in touch and then as quick as a flash!" she exclaimed "We'll be back." Laughing, she kissed my cheek and pulled away, getting into the car.

I wouldn't be keeping in touch. I couldn't. Not where I was going. And it wouldn't be long until they realised that too.

We finished our goodbyes and Mum closed her door with one final wave. I waved and smiled as they pulled away. Waved and smiled until I couldn't see them anymore. Waved and smiled while hoping this wasn't the last time I'd see them.

...

Fear. Fear and hesitance is what I felt that evening walking from room to room, trying to memorize every detail I could of my home. There was no guarantee I would be coming back, but I hope I would. I would write my way back into this world when I wanted to.

I sat on my bed looking around my room. There was my bag with my belongings, everything I needed. There wasn't much as I needed to be able to fit in but just enough food and clothes to last a couple of days until I could get more. But the most important belonging in my bag was of course, _Inkheart._

I took a couple of deep breaths, in and out, and walked over to my bag, slinging it over my shoulder. I retrieved my writings from my desk draw and stood in the middle of the room, glancing one last time at the note on my bed, explaining everything to my parents. Where I was going, why I had to go and apologising for making them leave for meetings which weren't real, for wasting their money and time organising everything by e-mail to fake potential clients – it was all me. But most of all, apologising for the hurt they would feel in a few of days' time when they return, to find their daughter missing, and not knowing if they would ever see her again.

I held back tears, trying to be strong. Gwin was in the corner of my room sleeping. "Gwin," I whispered, "it's time". She shook herself awake, blinking twice as she walked and climbed up my leg and into my bag.

Opening up the folded paper in my hand, I stared at my story. Taking a deep breath, I began reading myself into my own Inkheart.


End file.
